CITYist

Indie pop-rock band Rooney made the 24th stop of their Eureka tour in New York City last night. And though it wasn’t their first time at the small and intimate Irving Plaza, the California-based band is on a tour of many firsts: it’s their first major tour after dropping Geffen/Interscope Records and going the independent route, which means it’s also their first tour promoting their independently recorded album, which hit stores June 8th. It’s also the first time without one of Rooney’s original members, Matthew Winter, the bassist who, curiously, quit the band to pursue medicine. But Rooney is a quintessential California band, something like a Beach Boys version of Wavves for the high school set–and the tunes were just as sweet as usual.

It’s unclear why parents thought it was appropriate to take their 8-year-old daughters to the Lady Gaga concert last night at Madison Square Garden. Gaga is one part pop princess, one part soul songstress, one part activist, one part dominatrix and one part provocateur—and her favorite word is four letters long. Last night, the whole gang came out to play: the bra and panties ensemble from “Alejandro” and “Telephone,” the skirt composed of spikes, the disco stick, the red latex, the two cross strips of tape covering a very delicate area. And as Gaga cycled through hit after hit, “Poker Face,” “Paparazzi,” and “Bad Romance,” to name a few, her enthusiasm and compassion were unmatched. Often with tears in her eyes, she continually declared her love for her hometown, trying to give back the only way she new how, screaming, “Tonight, you will be set free!”

Everyone knows music is much better outdoors. So, we’ve rounded up the best concerts happening outside in NYC—with the beginning and end of the summer predominantly at the beach at Governors Island and the middle at Central Park’s summerstage—so you can better plan your musical outings. From CITY favorite Passion Pit to modern day hippies Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, there’s something for every musically inclined urban taste maker.

With Bonnaroo starting tomorrow and a whole slew of summer concert festivals just around the corner, we bring you the lowdown for braving the vast wilderness of musical campgrounds—and doing it in style. From killer backpacks, nature-inspired sunglasses and hipster sunblock to stylish sleeping bags, we’ve got you covered for the long, potentially showerless season ahead.

Robyn and Kelis are due to touch down in New York in August, and tickets go on sale Friday at noon. Robyn, well, we’ve talked about her before. A few times. As for Kelis, she’s miles away from milkshakes—her new, more electronic album comes complete with a futuristic look (check out her video for “A Capella” after the jump, as well as Robyn’s new video for “Dancing on My Own”). It seems she has realized that in pop circles, performance art is the newest fad. In other music news, don’t miss Yeasayer this Saturday for free at the beach on Governor’s Island. Did we mention it was free?

Anarchy is alive and well. We realized this the moment Iggy Pop staged dived into the audience last night, sending a surge of people in our direction and catapulting our vodka and soda into our hair. Despite the discomfort due to the fact that we could have wrung out our shirt of the drink and refilled our cup again (we didn’t), we were mesmerized by this 60-something punk rocker from Ann Arbor, Mich.: the crowd was infected, and this bare-backed rock shaman had infected us.